Conflict and Peace Building






Conflict and Peace Building

Interview with a Pirate

The slight figure of Farah Ismail Eid is a far cry from the swashbuckling, murderous image of a pirate of the high seas.

The scourge of piracy along the Horn of Africa's coastline has caused shipping firms to pay millions of dollars in ransoms and has taken several lives. The mighty U.S. Navy and other major powers have deployed warships and frigates to patrol the waters of the Gulf of Aden, but still the pirates succeed in hijacking cargo ships.

Somaliland: A Land in Limbo (Part I)

It's a disconcerting experience to report from a place that doesn't exist. 18-years ago Somaliland broke away from Somalia, its bigger, nastier neighbor. While that benighted nation has continued its descent into chaos, death and mayhem Somaliland has kept the peace and built a likeness of democracy.

But as Somalia's anarchy is showered with money Somaliland is diligently ignored. In April donor nations pledged another $213-million to the besieged Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu, that's roughly seven times the annual budget of Somaliland's entire government.

Roadside Bombs: An Iraqi Tactic on the Upswing in Afghanistan

The highway that runs between Kabul and the southeastern city of Kandahar is the most brutal evidence of the Taliban's IED offensive. The road is a showcase U.S.-funded project, meant to connect two of the country's most vital commercial centers. But today it is an automotive graveyard, littered with burned-out carcasses of vehicles and disrupted by crumbled bridges.

A Land in Limbo

During colonial times, Somalia was divided between British Somaliland (in the north) and Italian Somaliland (in the south, Mogadishu area). After WWII Britain joined British Somaliland with Italian Somaliland, though because of the different colonial legacies, deep social differences existed between the two sides. In 1960 a united Somalia became independent. Following the 1970s war with Ethiopia, the Somali military dictator, Said Barre (a southern Somali), became more and more repressive, pushing people from Somaliland to press for independence.

Somaliland's Mental Hospital: Stretched to the Limit

Somaliland has only one mental hospital in the entire country. Many patients in the hospital suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome from the civil war with southern Somalia, which eventually led to secession and, still after 18 years, de-facto independence. Overuse of khat, a narcotic leaf that is normally chewed throughout the day, has been said to lead to more cases schizophrenia. However, given Somaliland's unrecognized status, the state's coffers are stretched thin, with little available resources for social services such as health care.

Petraeus affirms Taliban targeted, killed in air raids

KABUL, Afghanistan | Video footage of a bombing raid by U.S. forces earlier this month on a village in western Afghanistan "very clearly" shows that Taliban militants were targeted and it accounts for most of those killed, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East and South Asia said Friday.

"What the video will prove is that the targets of these different strikes were the Taliban," Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of Central Command, told National Public Radio.

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